The first ever women’s stage race to be streamed, in full, live on TV is underway – and after a successful Team Time Trail from Velocio-SRAM, their rider Trixi Worrack now wears the yellow jersey.
Yesterday’s Stage one was claimed my Ronde van Drenthe winner, Jolien D’Hoore of Wiggle Honda, but Anna van der Breggen (Rabo Liv) stayed in the lead after a successful prologue.
The 105km race saw a duo of Winanda Spoor (Jan van Arckel) and Marijn de Vries (ParkHotel Valakenburg) break away just 14km in, and they maintained a gap until the final 3km, when the teams armed with sprinters clawed back their 2 minute gain, with Wiggle Honda winning the day.
Today the Team Time Trial was ruled by Velocio-SRAM who beat Boels Dolman by 14 seconds this morning, ahead of the 110km stage this afternoon. Their winning margin put Trixi in the lead.
After today there will be two more days of riding – most of the terrain is flat but the exposed landscape means successful riders will use the winds to their advantage.
In its fifth edition, the Dutch race is the first to stream a women’s race live – it’s on TV if you happen to be in the Netherlands, but otherwise you can watch live here, or catch repeats here.
Riders, managers and sponsors alike maintain that TV coverage is one of the most crucial ingredients to the success of women’s pro cycling – many sponsors need to justify spend with their brands appearing on screens. As Matrix Pro Cycling DS Stefan Wyman told us: “ A company’s products are on display to huge crowds, and featured on television. That’s pretty simple.”
You can keep up to date with race news from their Twitter feed, and UK writer Sarah Connolly is covering the race and providing rider interviews as well.
